Chance
by Wyvren
Summary: Luffy, an art major at collage and Zoro, a kendo teacher, happen to run into each other by chance. Setting off a chain of events that no one could have ever predicted. Main Pairings: ZoLu SmoAce GinSanji KiddLaw
1. Daily Life

_**The majority rules! College student story it is! (Even though it's been quite a long time since I've posted something… ) Sorry that I reposted this! I've added some things that will be substantial for the storyline. So next chapter should be up in a few days, also with revisions. Pairings are: ZoLu, MiSha, SmoAce, GinSanji, KiddLaw, and UsoNami.**_

_**Yup. Yaoi ahoy!**_

_**ON WITH THE SHOW**_

**XxxxX**

**Daily Life**

**XxxxX**

"Luffy! Luffy!"

Ocean blue eyes shined brightly as the owner turned to the man calling his name through the bustle of people.

"Usopp, over here!" He waved his arms wildly above his head so his long-nosed friend could locate him.

A dark colored hand grabbed his much paler forearm.

"These halls need traffic lights or something." The chocolate-eyed boy breathed, adjusting the heavy portfolio bag on his shoulder.

Luffy mimicked his motions with his own bag, and also adjusted the yellow straw hat on his head.

"At least classes are over for today, now we can go and do something fun!" The boy laughed as they walked side by side towards the exit of the large building.

The boy beside him rolled his eyes at the proclamation.

"We have to get started on that project, Luffy. Seriously, I know your skills can rival my own, but you really need to get your work done! How you got into college is still a mystery to me."

It was Luffy's turn to roll his eyes.

"It's not due till a month from now, plus you know I can't just make something on a whim! I have to get inspiration first!"

Usopp grinned.

"It will be about food. Again." He laughed, and Luffy gave him a pout.

"Not all my projects are about food…"

They exited the building, and both were glad to get a breath of fresh air from being in the large building for over four hours. Art College was grand and all, but the length of time sitting in a class however got old quickly. Usopp and Luffy were both design majors at the Grand Line Art School (they shared the campus with Grand Line University, making it the largest compound in the city). The city that shared the college's name, was huge, and sat right on the coast, giving a spectacular view of the ocean with it's expansive beaches. The dorms sat on these beaches; behind them was a forest that intermingled with the city.

There's only one drawback with this beautiful city, the odd bouts of weather during the in between seasons. During the transitions from one season to another, the atmosphere goes haywire for some unexplained reasons for two weeks, and just does what it wants without any consolation with what time of the year it is. Once, there was a snowstorm in the transition from spring to summer! Other than that, the place is what people would call 'an ideal location'.

Luckily, these occurrences wouldn't be happening for another week for the transition from fall to winter.

"I think I'll go to the pier tomorrow since it's going to be Saturday." Luffy announced suddenly as they came upon the dorms.

"Going to try and think up of something that doesn't have to do with food?" Usopp joked, and Luffy pushed him lightly in the shoulder as he counted out the large dorm houses.

Each house contained four rooms that housed three students.

"Here we go! House 24!"

The two climbed the stairs to get to the upper level of the complex, and went to the door that had a silver '4' nailed onto it.

Reaching into his pocket, Usopp brought out his key and unlocked the home.

"Sanji! We're home!" Luffy yelled into the darkened room.

Sanji is a culinary major, and knew precisely what he was doing. The man could have probably graduated now beat all the competition into the ground. Luffy was very happy to have the man as their roommate and friend, he made the best meals.

Usopp punched him in the shoulder.

"Stupid! Sanji has night classes on Fridays! He won't be back till about nine, or later if he's going to go watch the rehearsal for the performing arts. Ya know, since Nami is in it and all." The long nose man said with mocking tone on Nami's name, waving his hand with a sneer on his face.

Luffy just grinned at him.

"You should go watch sometimes too! I bet she'd love that!" The boy said, Straw hat covering dark blue eyes that were twinkling with mirth.

A baffled look over took the darker skinned boy's face, before he covered it up with a wavering grin, and the teen laughed nervously as he flicked on the lights on the house and kicked a sock out of his way.

"W-what you talking about? Why would she appreciate m-me there? I-I mean I'm the Great Usopp and all, but Sanji likes her a lot! I wouldn't want to go there and s-steal his thunder." He rambled as he hung up his backpack on one of three hooks on the wall next to the door before strolling into the living room.

"Nami, Kidd, Law, and his brother Gin should come over to just hang out sometime! We haven't done that in awhile!" Luffy said, as if he didn't hear Usopp, and the man's fake grin gave way to a real one as he considered this.

"Ah! Yea! That would be a lot of fun! We should do that right before the Seasonal Transition so we're locked in for a few days! We always get something that keeps us form leaving the house."

Luffy just laughed and nodded in agreement as he hung his own backpack up and followed Usopp in to the cluttered living room.

"Probably going to have to do some cleaning before Sanji gets home, you know how he is." Usopp said as he motioned to the dirty dishes sitting on the table, and the dirty laundry covering the cream colored carpet.

Luffy just nodded again as they began to pick up the stray clothes and random art tools from the floor. After they got done cleaning, the two went to their respective rooms to do their homework. Luffy finished his essay by slapping it together and half-heartedly spell checked it before taking it to his bag so he wouldn't forget it. The generals at the school weren't what he was interested in. He passed the classes, of course, but it wasn't like he got A's in the classes. Learning how to write essays and do things like _math_ were just boring, and in Luffy's mind, down right evil.

Zipping up the red backpack, the boy sighed with relief happy that was done.

Just about then, Usopp came from his own room to stuff his homework in his bag in a much neater fashion than Luffy before turning to his best friend.

"Hey, want to watch a movie?"

Luffy flashed him a grin.

"You bet!"

And the two raced to the couch into the living room, pushing, shoving, and laughing the entire way. Luffy won by leaping over the couch back and onto the cushions with squeaks from the protesting springs accenting him bouncing.

"I WIN!" he boasted, throwing his arms in the air just as Usopp came from the side and tackled him.

The two laughed as they wrestled on the couch, a mess of limbs and jumbled speech as they tried to throw each other off, before they both fell with a _WHUMP_ on to the floor.

Just then, the door to the apartment opened, and Sanji entered the room. He took the dying cigarette from his mouth and flicked it outside of the apartment before shutting the door with his foot. A curly eyebrow rose as his sky blue eye landed on the scene of his two roommates mock fighting over the couch.

"You two morons know you can share, right?" He said with a sigh as he ran a hand through his blond hair before taking the bag from his shoulder and hanging it on one of the hooks near the door.

"But then that's admitting defeat!" Luffy called out as he pushed Usopp over the side of the couch, since they somehow got back on it.

"I give anyway!" Usopp cried throwing up his arms to protect himself, as Luffy was about to pounce on him again.

The boy laughed as he relaxed his 'Pouncing Pose of Doom' and grabbed the straw hat that had fallen onto the floor during the scuffle and replaced it on his head.

Sanji smirked as he went into the kitchen to start on dinner as sounds of the movie 'Up' began to play from the TV.

"Hey Luffy! When is your dad going to come visit again?" Usopp asked just as Russell from the movie began clapping his hands to get the 'Snipe' to come out to help the old man.

"Three days I think. He said he was transferring to the city because of his job. Something about getting a management position or something like that." He said as he turned to lay upside-down, feet hanging off the back of the couch and hat safely placed on his stomach.

"Well that's good! Then he'll be nearby!" Usopp said with a grin, and Luffy matched him.

"Yeah! It's been awhile since I've seen him!" Blue eyes sparkled as he took the last handful of popcorn in the bowl that Usopp had gotten sometime during the movie.

Sanji sighed as the two began to fight again as Luffy finished off the last bit of popcorn. He dreaded the thought of another person like Luffy around.

One Luffy was enough to eat a fridge stuffed with food in a day. Or less than that…

"I'm going to have to buy more food."

**XxxxX**

_Clang_

_Shing!_

The metallic sound of clashing swords filled the dojo, and the ten students watching their teachers spar, had their mouth's dropped open, and eyes widened in awe.

"I can hardly _see _the attacks!"

"They're so fast!"

"I want to be like them one day!"

The two sparring soon stopped, one looking worse for wear while the other hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Roronoa, your endurance and speed, needs work." A man with piercing yellow eyes said as he lowered a long and highly decorated sword with a black blade.

Roronoa Zoro looked up into the man's eyes with his silver ones, and panted hard as he sheathed the two swords in his hands before taking a white katana from his mouth and putting it into it's snow white sheath, he then ran a hand through his short green hair to get some of the sweat out of it.

"So." Mihawk said, as he turned away from his eldest pupil to look at the younger ones sitting in a line.

"What did you learn from our match?"

Several hands shot up into the air.

"Tashigi?"

A girl around twelve with a black bob hair cut and glasses over large brown eyes wearing a black kendo outfit, like everyone else, stood, a white, green, and gold schemed katana clutched tightly in her grasp.

"That skill isn't the only important thing in swordsmanship. You have to be able to outlast your opponent if they equal you in technique." She said before Mihawk nodded to her, and she sat back down, her classmates grinning at her, and the boys sitting on either side of her who were fifteen, Johnny and Yosaku, clapped her on the back and gave a thumbs up.

"Yes. So, we are going to start doing some more running and agility exercises. Remember, the tournament is only two months away, so when you have time, practice outside of the dojo. Now be fore we dismiss for the night, I want you all to pair off into groups to do some stretches. Trafalgar Gin and Law, I want you two with Yasuko and Johnny, and this time, no singing." The kids jumped up, and began talking adamantly about the tournament as they began to filter into groups to cool down. The two brothers that were singled out, Gin and Law, gave the intimidating man sheepish looks as they went over to Yasuko and Johnny.

"Ah, sorry Mister Mihawk, just, it's getting close to show time!" Law said as Johnny snickered at him. Law was a well-toned and darker skinned nineteen year-old with short black hair, matching goatee, sharp features and honey-brown eyes with dark circles around them. He, like everyone else in the dojo, was wearing a kendo outfit. His sword, currently leaning against the wall is a huge black nodachi with white crosses and a fluffy tsuba.

Mihawk thought it was way to showy, but it sure reflected the boy's personality.

"Yeah! So we're kinda in the groove, sir. We'll try not to do it during class next time!" Law's brother, Gin replied. Gin looked a lot like his brother, but with a longer, and sharper nose and his hair was actually a dark brown color instead of black. He also had larger lips, and was just a tad taller than Law. He was also a year older.

"Hey! Maybe we can get everyone in the class to go to the show!" Johnny suddenly piped up as he helped Law keep his balance as he stretched his legs.

There were many murmurs of agreement and an overly excited Tashigi threw her arms in the air with a loud "YEAH!" and accidently uppercut the young boy that was helping her who simply held back his tears and said it was all good.

Zoro snorted and gave a smirked.

"That would be fun, what do you say Mihawk?" The green haired man gave his adoptive father an impish grin as the man sighed at being put on the spot, cause now everyone was looking at him for his approval.

He wasn't one for huge get-togethers and bouncy, frivolous music… But the puppy dog eyes being shot from little Tashigi, and the hopeful looks from the four elder boys besides Zoro made him relent.

"Hn, alright, we'll all go together. Now all of you get out of my hair! Dismissed!" He said, waving his hand at them, the two brothers grinned ecstatically.

"Awesome! Thanks!"

"Yeah! Can't wait to see you all there!" They said as they gathered their things like the others, and went out of the building to meet up with Law's boyfriend, Kidd, for a ride home.

Tashigi stayed behind as she watched the others wave goodbye, she enthusiastically returning it as they left. A large hand landed on her head, and she looked up to the serious face of Zoro. She just grinned.

"Hi, Zoro! Your match with sensei was amazing today! You guys are better than any fighting movie, ever!" She said, a bright smile on her face as she began to act out some of the fight with one hand, because the other was still occupied by the sword, before she tripped over herself and landed on the floor.

Zoro chuckled as he helped the energetic girl onto her feet.

"You'll be able to do those things too some day." He said, and the girl looked up at him with awe and admiration.

"Really? But how am I supposed to do some of those moves when I'm so short? You and Sensei Mihawk are so _tall._" The green haired man smirked at her and let out a small chuckle at her pouting face.

Mihawk and himself were pretty tall, he stood at 6'1 while Mihawk stood at a staggering 6'6 feet.

"In swordsmanship, there is nothing you can't do as long as you train hard." She grinned at his words.

Just then, a large man in a police uniform walked into the dojo, a lit cigar clenched in his teeth, and the smoke emitting from it was the same color as the spiked hair on his head. His grey eyes scanned the room, before they landed on the little swordswoman.

"Tashigi." He said, his low gruff voice interrupting her demonstration on how Mihawk block all three of Zoro's swords with her arms.

"PAPA!" She cried, and laughed as she dashed from Zoro into the awaiting arms of her father.

He grinned and picked her up and place her on his right shoulder as she match his grin and giggled.

"You have a good day at practice?" He asked her and she nodded and began to tell him all about the match between Zoro and Mihawk, arm movements and all.

"Careful now, Tashigi! I don't want you falling off!"

He smiled and looked at Zoro, and then to Mihawk. With his free hand, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wad of beri before walking forward to hand to Mihawk.

"Here's this month's pay."

Mihawk took it and gave the man a nod.

Smoker turned to leave and Tashigi looked back at her friend and her mentor and waved.

"See you on Monday, Mihawk-sensei and Zoro-sensei!"

After they left, Zoro chuckled.

"She's a handful. I'm not quite sure how Smoker does it." Zoro said, a fond smile on his face.

"I remember a child that was just as energetic when they were smaller…" Mihawk drawled, a smirk playing on his own lips at the indignant look Zoro gave him.

"Whatever, old man."

The smirk was off Mihawk's face in an instant and was replaced with a light scowl.

To Zoro, it looked like a pouty face.

"I am only thirty-five, and definitely not _old._"

Zoro grinned at his adoptive father.

"What are you going to do with the rest of your _youth_ before you go down hill then? Find someone?" Zoro snorted at his own joke, because, the man didn't like any thing to do with romantic sap.

Mihawk pointed a glare at him as they went out of the Dojo portion of the house, and into the kitchen to make some tea.

"I mean. It's not like you'll find anyone to match you in sword fighting while you're waiting for me to catch up to beat you, and you loath your day job. Oh, how did you describe it? _'The moronic imbeciles that pollute that office reek more than your cooking skills, Zoro._'" Zoro lowered his voice and set his face into a serious expression to mimic his Father while saying the line, he cracked up afterwards.

Mihawk also chuckled.

"Thank God that baboon that called himself a manager got fired by the executives. Hopefully, the next manager has some grey matter in his skull." The hawk-eyed man said as he poured a hot cup of tea then handed it to Zoro before pouring his own.

They sat in silence for a little bit after that, sipping on their tea and just enjoying each other's company. They didn't need constant noise in between them to keep the atmosphere comfortable, which is probably why Mihawk put up with the boy all these years. He smirked at the thought. Wondering when the little green haired devil ad gotten so big. It sounded like something out of a cliché novel, but where had the time gone? It really did seem like it was just yesterday when Zoro was small, barely reaching his kneecap and swinging a stick around like a sword with unrestrained, untrained talent that he didn't realized he possessed till Mihawk showed him.

"Well, I'm going to run by the pier tomorrow, and probably won't be back till around noon. I'll give you a call if I'm not home by then." Zoro said as he got up with his empty cup, and offered to take Mihawk's who handed it to him.

"Alright."

He rinsed them out in the sink before a yawn reached him, and he started on his way to his bedroom.

"Night, Father." He called out over his shoulder, and Mihawk smiled, even though Zoro couldn't see it.

"Goodnight, son." He whispered the last part, but the proud smile didn't leave his face as the teen went upstairs.

**XxxxX**


	2. Accident

_**Edit: Revised & stuff added**_

**XxxxX**

**Accident**

**XxxxX**

Luffy woke up at 8:30 that morning to his iPod blaring 'Hikari' from Kingdom Hearts. With a loud yawn, he rolled over in his sheets to blindly search for the device to turn it off. Just as the music turned off, and the boy was about to roll over to go back to sleep, Sanji's voice called from the kitchen.

"BREAKFAST!"

The raven-haired boy was out of the bed, in nothing but boxers and in the kitchen before Sanji had even finished saying the word. Pulling out a chair from under the three-person table that sat in the kitchen, Luffy plopped down in it as he itched his exposed stomach. The blond cook, who was already in his casual day clothes consisting of black slacks, his boots, an a white dress shirt that was unbuttoned to about mid chest, narrowed his one showing sky blue eye at the ruffled teen.

"The least you could do is get decent before you sit down to eat."

Luffy frowned as he tried to smooth out his mess nest of black hair.

"Hey, I'm wearing boxers this time." He said with a pout, but it was replaced with a grin as a relenting Sanji sat food in front of him before he went back to making the other two plates.

"Praise heaven for small favors." He said with an amused sigh.

Usopp came through the front door at that moment dressed in a pair of brown khaki shorts, a yellow t-shirt with an armadillo on it, and a red bandana on his head, keeping his shoulder length curly hair out of his face. There was a newspaper clutched in his hand.

"There was an arson incident last night." He said suddenly as he shut the door and went into the kitchen, sitting himself across from the gorging Luffy.

Sanji set plate of food in front of the long-nose before setting his own plate of food down and sat with the rest.

"Arson? Where at?"

"Somewhere in the Northern part of the city. A crooked salesman owned the building, was a dealer in the black market. He died in the fire. Says a man that goes by 'Fire-Fist' Ace did it, there's a wanted poster for him an everything!" Usopp said as he put the paper down onto the middle of the table.

"You'd think since he's taking out bad guys, the law enforcement wouldn't make such a big deal about it…" Sanji said, pick up the paper to look it over for a moment before setting it back down.

Luffy didn't say anything as he finished his breakfast before the other two even took a bite, and put his plate into the sink.

"Oh, it's your turn for dishes today, Usopp." Sanji said suddenly, and the long-nosed teen groaned, paper now forgotten.

"Aw! I was hoping you'd forget!" A pout formed on his lips.

"And if they're not done… I'll kick your face in." The man warned, a feral grin gracing his face, and Usopp laughed nervously.

"Oh don't worry! They'll be cleaner than clean! Sparkle and gleam like glitter they will! For I, The Great Usopp am the BEST dish cleaner EVER!"

Sanji stared at the teen that had gotten out of his seat to place one foot on it in an epic pose for a moment.

"Then you can take Luffy's shift tomorrow, as well."

Usopp deflated, and Sanji just laughed at him.

"I'm kidding!"

During this, Luffy had grabbed the paper and headed to his room to get some clothes to put on after he showered. Placing the paper on his bed, ocean blue eyes looked over the grinning, freckled black and white face in the picture on the wanted poster.

With a 'hmm' Luffy tore his eyes away from it and went to take his shower.

Afterwards, he put on a pair of baggy jean shorts with some white fake fur at the hem, a black wife beater and a deep red zip-up hoodie that he left open before going back into his room to pick up the straw hat on his in table. Picking it up, he looked at it for a moment, contemplating.

A grin broke out on his face suddenly.

"So you both are going to be around now, huh?"

With a laugh, he placed the hat on his head, and grabbed his cell phone, iPod, keys, wallet, pencil, and sketchbook and placed the items in his pockets, and the last under his arm before heading out of the room and to the front door. Putting on his sandals, he grasped the door handle.

"I'm heading to the pier now guys!"

He heard them tell him to have fun, and he was out the door.

**XxxxX**

Heading to the pier, he admired the large cliff sides that made a border around the water as he went to the old fishing piers. They were like a giant fence.

Luffy liked to think it kept sea monsters from entering the city. When he told this to Usopp, the teen laughed, and had told him that he shouldn't watch 'Godzilla' movies any more.

With a smile, Luffy ran down the stairways that lead to the old wooden piers. They were carved right into the cliff side, and for some reason, seagulls enjoyed perching there.

Luffy loved scaring them. With a devious grin he tried to appear harmless as he approached their perch calmly.

"RAWWWWRRR!"

Feathers and _'kryee's'_ filled the air as the white and gray birds scrambled to get out of the way of the noisy human that was making odd faces and clawing motions as he ran at them.

After tormenting, and laughing at the birds, he made his way to the edge of one of the piers, and sat down, peering out into the water. He breathed in the air, and smiled. He loved the smell of the ocean, no matter how fishy it got. Luffy had always dreamed of sailing the seas, it would have been a grand adventure! He would be a pirate! As free as any man could be! Sailing around looking for great treasure with his crew. He found himself doodling a picture of a ship with ten people on it. One had a straw hat, another had a long nose, and one had a curly eyebrow. Yes, ten would be a good number! But who else would he want in his crew besides his roommates?

Wait! He had to be thinking about his school project!

With a huff, Luffy turned the page of his sketchbook to a blank page. He had to prove Usopp wrong! Not all of his projects were about food!

He wanted it to be about something cool, and meaningful… Maybe a portrait of someone! Hmm, but who?

All thoughts of his project, however, were blown away… Right along with his hat! A strong wind had suddenly picked up, taking his hat with it.

Luffy's heart sank as he suddenly whipped his head around to see his treasured possession being taken high into the air, heading over the cliffs.

"BOSHI! NO!" He cried out, getting up and stuffing his sketchbook in the hem of his pants and sprinting back to the stairs, and up them, blue eyes locked on to the hat the entire time. Panic filled him as he reached the top of the stairs, and the hat started to float a little higher than Luffy could reach.

Just as he ran and jumped, his hand closing around the brim of the red ribbon straw-hat, he collided, hard, with someone, sending them both to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

**XxxxX**

Zoro had been on his second lap near the pier (if you count taking several roads over and over again till he found his way back to the pier, damn his sense of direction!), when a blur of red was all he saw before he ended up flat on his ass. What made his heart sink, however, was the loud

_Clatta kshhhhhhhhhhh! _ That came from one of his katanas that had flown out of his belt and slid across the ground. Silver eyes widened in horror as Wadō Ichimonji slid right over the side of the cliff.

Still dazed and horrified, he didn't even notice the teen that had run into him, scrambled off of him, and shoved something yellow into his hands just before he leaped up to save his sword-

"Hang on to this!"

-And was now scaling down the cliff!

"What-?" Zoro said to no one in particular, as his brain caught up with all that took place in a few seconds.

He looked down to see a straw hat in his hands, and then the memory of seeing his sword fall off the side of the cliff.

"No!" He yelled out, dragging himself to the side of the cliff, the hat clutched tightly in his hand. Fear ripped him at the thought of losing the sword, losing the memories that were held in it, the promise…

_Oh God! Shit!_

Looking over the cliff edge, he was nearly shocked backwards as the gangly teen that had run into him, was bracing himself on some rocks, and was stretching his arm as far as it could go to reach the white sword that was teetering on the edge of another rock, threatening to fall into the jagged ones below.

So was the kid.

"Almost got it!" The boy yelled out as his hand brushed the handle.

Zoro held his breath as the kid suddenly lurched forward, and grabbed onto the sword, but lost his footing on the rocks. Without thinking, Zoro thrust out his hand and body out as far as he could to gasp onto the kid's free, flailing hand.

"AH!" Luffy cried out as he began to fall backwards, and he instinctively grasped the sword tighter to himself, while the other hand shot out to grab onto something, anything!

A hand grasped his own, and before he knew it, he was back on top of the cliff, the man he ran into next to him, wearing his hat that he had frantically put on in order to save Luffy and the sword.

The two of them sat there, at the edge of the cliff, breathing hard from the sudden daring experience. Luffy's face cracked into a smile and a hearty laugh left his throat, earning him a flabbergasted look from the silver-eyed man.

"What the _hell_ is so funny?" He snarled out, snatching the sword away from the insane teenager.

"I almost DIED! Man, that was scary!" Luffy yelled out before continuing to laugh.

Zoro gritted his teeth. This bastard nearly cost him an irreplaceable memoir! And for what? The furious kenshi ripped the straw-hat off his head and glared at it before smashing it onto the kid's head.

A stupid _hat_.

"Ow! Hey! Watch the hat! It's special!" The kid cried out, clutching the hat to his head like it was the only thing keeping him in this life. Man he was loud!

Zoro looked into the narrowed ocean blue eyes, and gave his own glare.

"If you would have kept better watch on you _special_ hat, you wouldn't have run into me! I almo-" He stopped mid-sentence as he looked away from the teen, and finally got a good look at his sword.

The scabbard had a huge, jagged crack going from the top to the bottom.

"Almost lost it." He finished the sentence quietly, as he looked at the condition of his beloved sword's scabbard, not noticing the boy now watching him curiously.

Unsheathing the blade, he inspected it thoroughly, and was happy to note that the sword itself was undamaged. But, still. The scabbard is part of the sword, even if he were to replace it, it would never be the same.

He ran a hand through his short green hair as a long, saddened sigh escaped his lips.

Luffy bit his lip. Usopp _had_ told him it would probably be a good idea to put a string on the hat so it would stop flying off his head when the wind picked up, since it was still a little too big for him.

He looked at the long jagged crack in the wood of the scabbard and grimaced, he would feel horrible if his hat had gotten rips in it, but that was fixable, how could you fix thi-

Wait, that's it! It's made out of wood and metal! Franky, one of his professors at school was excellent when it came to wood and metal work!

"Hey, I'm really sorry. I bet that sword is special to you like my hat is to me, but I can fix it! I know someone who works with stuff like this all the time, and he'll be able to repair it!" Luffy said with a grin, it didn't even falter as the man gave him a deadly look that would make any normal person piss their pants.

Good thing Luffy wasn't normal.

"Why should I trust you? You're the one who messed her up!" He snarled, teeth bared and all.

Luffy frowned.

Why _should_ the man trust him? His frown turned into a pout as he stared at the damaged sword, and a hand came up to touch his hat as he thought.

"Well… We can exchange phone numbers so we can stay in contact." The scowl on the man deepened and the glare grew harsher.

It wasn't good enough. No. It would never be good enough. That sword was probably like his hat with how the man held on to it so tenderly. Irreplaceable.

Luffy returned to biting his lip, before his hand reached up to grab the straw-hat on his head, and pulled it off.

It was probably just like his hat….

Blue eyes contemplated it for a moment, a finger running over a few names signed in the hat before he bowed his head and stuck his hand out in offering.

Dubious silver eyes stared at the object; frown still stiffly in place before the boy spoke.

"This hat is very special to me. My dad gave it to me when I was very young; he gave it to me, because I was to be apart from him and my brothers for long periods of time. I have their names in the brim. It's like, holding their memory, so I know they're with me, even though we're apart."

He said this in a low voice, very different from how he was speaking earlier, hell, his who demeanor changed while talking about it! It was like witnessing a transformation, and the young swordsman's hard gaze lightened a fraction as he stared at the hat with a thoughtful look.

Looking into the brim of the offered hat, sure enough, there were three names in it, one was crossed out, and Zoro had a pretty good guess what meant.

"Holding their memory, huh?" Zoro mused as he looked at his damaged sword.

He knew exactly where Luffy was coming from.

Running his hand over the damaged scabbard, he made a decision and looked seriously into the boy's eyes.

"I still want your number, and I want frequent updates on how Ichimonji is doing. Got it?" Zoro said, as he took the hat from the teen's hand and placed it on his head before gingerly and replaced it with the katana.

Luffy looked up, surprised, and grinned as he held the sword close to his chest.

"Got it! By the way, I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" He said, using one hand to hold the sword as he stuck out the other.

Zoro looked at it, and back into the grinning face of the raven-haired teen. A smirk graced the angular face as he took the hand as he used the other to placed the hat on his head.

"Roronoa Zoro." Luffy's grin widened.

"It's always nice to meet new friends!"

Zoro's mouth dropped open. _What? _

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who said anything about being friends?"

They parted hands as the green-haired man folded his arms over his broad chest.

"I've decided! So that's that!"

Luffy announced, mirroring the man's stance and raising his head high. Even though the guy had a good few inches on him.

"You can't just _decide_ things like that on your own!" The man yelled, and the black-haired artist just laughed,

"Too late! What I say goes!"

This was going to be an interesting friendship…

**XxxxX**


End file.
